It is not uncommon to do away with the cage for bearings but you will need a couple more to fill the space. Many sources including Sheldon Brown's site prefer eliminating cages and having a higher ball count. Less load per bearing.
Free advice for using Evaporust: IF you have ANY hydrocarbon film (grease/oil/solvent) on the part you're trying to derust, the Evaporust will NOT be able to get at the rust easily....or in some cases not at all. ALWAYS wash the part in soapy water FIRST (Dawn dish soap works great)....then rinse off in clean water.....THEN put the part in the Evaporust. The derusting process will then take place a LOT faster......and the Evaporust won't be contaminated by the hydrocarbons. As for the spokes or anything with bright zinc plating, please do NOT use a wire wheel on the part. All this will do (especially on spokes) is COMPLETELY REMOVE the very thin zinc plating and you'll be down to the raw steel substrate. Better to use a metal polish such as Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish or (preferably) Autosol Metal Polish. This will clean and shine the zinc plating and leave it very shiney.....assuming the zinc plating is still on there to BE shone up. The zinc on the spokes is VERY thin so treat it with care.
Thanks for both! I'll have to reconsider my spoke cleaning method. Although I will say, I've been using this method for 20 years...and no re-rusting yet.
It is not uncommon to do away with the cage for bearings but you will need a couple more to fill the space. Many sources including Sheldon Brown's site prefer eliminating cages and having a higher ball count. Less load per bearing.
Free advice for using Evaporust: IF you have ANY hydrocarbon film (grease/oil/solvent) on the part you're trying to derust, the Evaporust will NOT be able to get at the rust easily....or in some cases not at all. ALWAYS wash the part in soapy water FIRST (Dawn dish soap works great)....then rinse off in clean water.....THEN put the part in the Evaporust. The derusting process will then take place a LOT faster......and the Evaporust won't be contaminated by the hydrocarbons.
As for the spokes or anything with bright zinc plating, please do NOT use a wire wheel on the part. All this will do (especially on spokes) is COMPLETELY REMOVE the very thin zinc plating and you'll be down to the raw steel substrate. Better to use a metal polish such as Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish or (preferably) Autosol Metal Polish. This will clean and shine the zinc plating and leave it very shiney.....assuming the zinc plating is still on there to BE shone up. The zinc on the spokes is VERY thin so treat it with care.
Thanks for both! I'll have to reconsider my spoke cleaning method. Although I will say, I've been using this method for 20 years...and no re-rusting yet.